Church of Scotland, including Clergy

Discover records relating to members of Presbyterian churches, including the Church of Scotland, and the seceding churches.

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What do I need to know before I sta​rt?

Try to find out:

name of the person

where they lived

which church they attended

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What records can I find in The Mitchell: Glasgow City Archives?​​

The City Archives holds the original records for Glasgow Presbytery and its parish churches from the 16th to the 20th century. These comprise the records of churches which are now Church of Scotland, including former seceding churches.

The geographic area of Glasgow Presbytery includes areas outwith the City’s current boundaries.

The Presbytery records include serious discipline cases and details of ordained ministers and their families.

The records of the individual parishes, includes:

Minutes of Kirk Sessions which dealt with discipline cases, including cases of illegitimacy and irregular marriage

Registers of baptisms, marriages and proclamations, and (occasionally) burials, including pre-1855 registers for a number of seceding churches

Communion rolls, sometimes pre-1855

Membership rolls and other lists of parishioners, sometimes pre-1855

Often the only record that a death has taken place may be the payment of a fee to the parish for the hire of a mortcloth which was draped over the coffin or the corpse for the funeral. This may be found in parish financial records.

The records of the parishes may contain details of the ministers and officers of the Church, including elders.

In addition to the original records of Glasgow Presbytery, you can also access digital copies of records of the Church of Scotland for across Scotland in the City Archives.

Special Collections holds the Fasti Ecclesiae for the Church of Scotland and other Presbyterian Churches, which details the careers of ministers.

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What records can I see onlin​e?

Databases of the following lists of pre-1855 baptisms from the City Archives are available online:

Co​​​​​ntact

Did you know? ​

The minutes of Govan Kirk Session record the appearance of James Hamilton of Gorbals for drinking in his house and Janet Dunlop for drinking in the same house and entertaining three English dragoons that same night, 1710.